Paul DiPietro
Paul DiPietro was born on September 8, 1970 in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. Standing at a diminutive 5'9 he had great success with the Sudbury Wolves of the Ontario Hockey League. In the 1990 NHL entry draft, he was selected in the fifth round, 102nd overall by the Montreal Canadiens. He continued to translate his junior success to the Fredricton Canadiens of the American Hockey League. In 1993 he caught his big break and made it to the big club in Montreal. He was even part of the Stanley Cup winning team that year. By 1994-95 though he had moved on to the Toronto Maple Leafs, playing a couple of games with the team before heading east to their AHL affiliate in St John's. During 1996-97 Paul DiPietro had a cup of coffee with the Los Angeles Kings but spent most of his time in the minors Phoenix Roadrunners and Cincinnati Cyclones of the IHL. In 1999-00 he played four games for the Canadian National Team before moving to Europe to play with Zug of the Swiss league. He had great success in Switzerland and settled there, marrying a Swiss national and getting his citizenship in 2005. In the 2006 Torrino Winter Olympics, Dipietro had a huge game against Canada in the preliminary round, scoring 2 goas as the Swiss upset the Canadians 2-0.

Tyler Moss
The early nineties saw the emergence of big/tall butterfly style goalies. Much of this can probably be attributed to the success of Patrick Roy and later on Martin Brodeur. Tyler Moss was born in Ottawa, Ontario and played net for the Kingston Frontenacs of the OHL. He was drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2nd round, #29 overall in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft. Tyler began his pro career in the IHL with the Atlanta Knights in 1995 and spent a lot of time in the AHL. He got his break into the NHL in 1997-98 with the Calgary Flames. In March 2000 he was traded from the Calgary Flames with Rene Corbet to the Pittsburgh Penguins for Brad Werenka. He ended up spending 12 games with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2000-01 before heading back to the minors. After stints with the Lowell Lock Monsters and Manitoba Moose he was a single game call up of the Vancouver Canucks in 2002-03. He was on the move again in 2004, traded from the Vancouver Canucks organization to the Edmonton Oilers for Peter Sarno. He has spent the last few years in the Oilers farm system, playing for the RoadRunners of the AHL.

Tyler Moss
Tyler Moss was born on June 29, 1975 in Ottawa, Ontario. The six feet tall goalie was drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the second round, 29th overall of the 1993 entry draft. After spending three years with the Kingston Frontenacs of the OHL, Moss began his pro-hockey career as property of the Lightning with the Atlanta Knights of the IHL. He never got to play with the Lightning, but played his first NHL game in 1997-98 with the Calgary Flames. He hung around in the Flames organization for a couple of years before being traded with Rene Corbet to Pittsburgh Penguins for Brad Werenka in 2000. He then signed with the Carolina Hurricanes, playing 12 games in 2000-01 and later on signed with the Vancouver Canucks. In 2004 Moss was traded by the Canucks to the Edmonton Oilers for Peter Sarno. He continued to play in their minor league system, spending time in Toronto and later in Edmonton.

Trevor Halverson
Trevor Halverson was born in the Northern Ontario town of White River and played his major junior hockey with the North Bay Centennials of the OHL. He was drafted in the first round, 21st overall by the Washington Capitals in 1991. Trevor spent the his first pro-hockey season with the Baltimore Skipjacks of the AHL before moving around between various AHL, IHL and ECHL teams. The 6'1 left winger paid his dues in the minors before finally getting a shot in the big league with the Capitals. He played in 17 games for the Caps during the 1998-99 NHL season, scoring 4 assists and adding 28 penalty minutes. He did not get back into the NHL and stopped playing pro-hockey in 1999.

Claude Boivin
The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League is known for its skilled players and butterfly style goalies. But every once in a while, it puts out a bonafide tough guy. That was the case in 1988 when left winger Claude Boivin was drafted in the first round, in that year's entry draft. Boivin had 309 penalty minutes in 59 games with Laval in 1989-90 and began his pro career with the Hershey Bears of the AHL. He got his first taste of NHL hockey in 1991-92 playing 58 games in Philadelphia. After a playing parts of a couple of seasons in Philly, Claude moved on to the Ottawa Senators in 1993. He only managed to play in 18 games over 2 seasons for the Senators and found himself shuttling between the AHL, IHL and ECHL. He ended his professional hockey career in 1999-00 with the Long Beach Ice Dogs of the International Hockey League.

Nikos Tselios
Nikos was the prototypical defensive prospect playing his junior hockey with the Belleville Bulls of the OHL. After a year and half with the Bulls he was traded to the Plymouth Whalers in 1997. At the end of that year, he was also drafted in the first round, 22nd overall by the Hartford Whalers. The defenseman spent a couple of years playing with the Cincinnati Cyclones of the IHL, working on his defensive game and filling out his huge 6'5 frame upto 210 pounds. He got his first shot at the bigs in 2000-01 with the Carolina Hurricanes, playing in 2 games and not recording any points and 6 penalty minutes. Since then he has been back in the minors, playing with Lowell Lock Monsters, Springfield Falcons and Utah Grizzlies of the American Hockey League.

Alexandre Volchkov
Alexandre Volchkov was born in Moscow, Russia and played his major junior hockey with the Barrie Colts of the Ontario Hockey League. Considered a prolific scorer in the OHL, Volchkov was drafted by the Washington Capitals in the first round, #4 overall in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft. The first couple of years of Alexandre's pro career saw him playing in the minors with the Portland Pirates and Cincinnati Cyclones. He got his first glimpse of the NHL in 1999-2000 season playing in 3 games, though not registering any points. This would unfortunately be his only stint in the big league as he was sent back down to the AHL. In 2001 he returned to Russia and played in his homeland until the 2002-03 season.

Jesper Mattsson
The early 1990s saw the Calgary Flames dip into Europe looking for hockey talent. Jesper Mattsson was born in Malmo, Sweden. The right winger was drafted in the first round in 1993, #18 overall by the Calgary Flames. He played in Sweden for three seasons and moved to North America for the 1995-96 season, spending the next two and half years with the St John Flames of the AHL. He had average seasons with the Flames affiliate but never made the jump to the big club. He moved back to Europe in 1997-98, playing the next seven seasons for Malmo IF. Currently he is playing for Farjestads BK Karlstad of the Swedish Elite League.

Peter Ratchuk
Peter Ratchuk was born in Buffalo, NY and was drafted straight out of high school in the first round, 25th overall, by the Colorado Avalanche in 1996. He began his junior hockey career in the NCAA with Bowling Green University but moved on to the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) in 1997-98. He never signed with the Avalanche and in 1998 went to the Florida Panthers as a free agent. In his rookie season he played 24 games in the NHL splitting time between the big club and the New-Haven Beast of the AHL. After spending the next couple of seasons in the minors he got another opportunity with the Panthers in 2000-01 and played in 8 more games. This was followed with a couple of minor league stops in the Penguins and Sabres organizations. The last few seasons have seen Peter Ratchuk playing hockey for the Frankfurt Lions in one of the European hockey leagues.

Eric Lavigne
Eric Lavigne was drafted in the 2nd round of the 1991 NHL draft by the Washington Capitals. He played is major-juniour hockey with the Hull Olympiques of the QMJHL and was considered a competent hockey enforcer. His stay in Washington was extremely brief as he was soon with the Los Angeles Kings, who game Lavigne his first NHL appearance in 1994-95. Since then, Eric has been going back and forth amongst various hockey teams in the IHL, AHL, Europe and second/third tier teams in North America. In 2003-04 he continued playing, for the Thetford Mines Prolab of the QSMHL and was still racking up the penalty minutes!